wolcott



(-No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H56. WOLCOTT 6 I. M. BBAMAN.

4 -MBTALLIG FENICE.

NQ. 662,626. Pauw-.6666116 16, 1666.

W't z y y y u r u l A Pitt UNITED STATES HENRY J. WOLCOTT AND FREDERICK M. BEAMAN, OF ALBION, MICHIGAN,

PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNORS, yBY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE BEAMAN PERFECT STEEL FENCE COMPANY,

or SAME PLACE.

METALLIC FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 562,328, dated J' une 16, 1896. Application filed November 30, 1894. Serial No. 530,396. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t Hemphill/1.067%:

Be it known that we, HENRY J. WoLcorr and FREDERIGK M. BEAMAN, citizens of the y' United States, residing at the city of Albion, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Fences, of which The objects of our invention are to provide a strong and durable fence of light Weight made entirely of metal which shallcontain improved means of fastening the longitudinal wires of the fence to the fence-post, and other improvements appearing in the detailed description. We accomplish these objects of our invention by the devices shown in the accompanying drawingsQin which- Figure 1 presents a front elevation of adouble length of fence embodying all of our improvements. Fig. 2 presents a rear elevation of our improved fence,showing ordinary crosswire stays. Fig. 3 presents a sectional view 2 5 on line 3 3 of Fig. 2, showing the method of attaching the braces to the end posts and also showing the method of compensating for expansion and contraction from heat and cold. Fig. 4. is a sectional view on line 4t Il of Fig. 3o 2, showing a similar View of the opposite end of the fence. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 2, looking down. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view on line 7 7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 6 is also a detail sectional view on line 3 5 7 7 of Fig. 5, showing the preferred construction. Fig. 8 is adetail sectionalview on line 8 8 of Fig. 9, showing the manner of attaching the cross-stays or pickets of the fence to the longitudinal wire. 4o tional view on line t) 9 of Fig. 8, showing the method of attaching the ends of the crossstrands to the top and bottom wires of the fence. Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail view show- .ing the method of inserting the spring-tension for compensating for the expansion and contraction due to heat and cold in the metal, as inserted in one of the longitudinal wires.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views. 5o n All the sectional views are taken looking in Fig. 9 isa detail sec` the direction of the little arrows at the ends of the section-lines Referring to the lettered parts of the drawings, A A represent the end posts of our improved fence.

B represents the intermediate posts placed between the end posts.

B B' B' B represent ordinary wire cross- -stran ds.

I I I I represent our improved oross-stays- C represents the braces; D, the brace-rods; E, the block for supporting the braces, and

e e c represent the longitudinal wires of our -1 improved fence.

The end posts A are made of angle-iron, 011e limb of which stands in line with the direction of the fence and the other limb at right angles thereto. The braces C (because in these each end of the fence is made the same) are made of angle-iron, the limbs of which are divided from each other at the top end, one being folded up at an angle to iit fiat against the limb of the post which is at right angles to the direction of the fence and secured thereto by means of the bolt e'. The vertical limb of this angleeiron is cut off, so as not to press against the fence, and is secured to the limb of the end post, which is in line with the direction of the fence, by means of the bolt y A washer 'm is placed between the 4brace and the vertical portion, so as to separate the brace from that limb. of the angleiron a little distance. The wires are attached to these end posts by being passed through holes therein at one end, as at A, with a rod t passing down through the eyelets in the ends of the wire, a sectional View of which is shown in 4. The opposite end post of the fence is constructed in much the same way and the wires are secured to eyes formed 1n the end of bolts e' e', which bolts pass through the'I holes in the angle-iron of the post. Between the heads of the nuts of the bolts fifi and the outside of the post A are inserted coiled springs s s, which springs serve to put tension upon the wire and also keep the tension `when the wire expands from being heated or is contracted by the cold. A suitable Washer,

lof course, is putnext to the spring. This spring tension, it Will be noted, is independ- IOO ent on each wire, and each wire can be adjusted by itself.

The braces C at each end post project down and forward at an angle, and the lower ends rest upon any suitable block or support, as E. Through a hole in the lower end of the brace a bolt D is hooked, (see Fig. 3,) and each of these bolts passes through a hole in the bottom. of its respective post A or A', and on the bolt a suit-able nut is placed which is capable of being screwed up to any convene ient length along the rod or bolt D, as required. It will thus be seen that to brace the end post and make it hold more powerfully, all that is necessary to do is to turn up the nut on the bolt D. This will tend to carry the end of the brace C down against the block E, which of course will have suiiicient area to prevent its being forced into the ground readily. Thus the post will be braced and secured.

The intermediate posts B (one of which is shown) of our improved fence, it will be readily understood, are not necessary to brace the fence in the direction of its length owing to the heavy end posts which are so thoroughly braced. These intermediate posts are of angle-iron and are set at angles to the fence, the point of the angle being brought directly in line with the fence, the limbs of the angleiron projecting out from the rear of the fence, which gives the fence a strong lateral brace owing to the stiffness of the iron in this direction. This angle-iron construction enables us to use successfully a very simple fastening for the purpose by punching holes through the angle of the iron at appropriate heights for the passage of the wires. The lon gitudinal wires E of the fence are brought to position and an ordinary wire staple u is put over the same a-nd inserted in the hole of the angle-iron, when the staple is spread out, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the construction in Fig. 6 being much preferred because the hole through the iron is small and the clamping of the wire is much sharper on that account and the weakening of the post is much less. Instead of using staples in this position, a

wire similar to the wire t at the end post A" can be inserted and looped around in the same form as shown in Figs. G and '7, and in this way a comparatively light wire can be used and be effective, if used as indicated in the construction in Fig. 6. Where this construction is used, it would be held sul'iiciently tight so that no fastening of the ends of the wires would be required.

Our improved fence will be very effective with ordinary cross-strands B B/ B B, but it will be much better with our improved crossstrands or pickets l. These are made of comparatively thin sheet metal bent in the form of an angle-iron, or can be made of very light angle-iron as desired. IVe suggest the strips of sheet metal bent in that form because they do Ynot need to be heavy. Holes are perforated in the angle of the strips I, similar to the hole in the post B opposite to the wire, but the open side of the angle-iron is placed next to the wire and staples f inserted over the wire through holes and the ends bent down to clench, as will be readily understood on an examination of Figs. 8 and 9. The cross-stays or pickets I attached in this way make the fence very rigid and being angled in form are not easy to bend and the outer ends of each limb of the angle coming next to the wire engage the same very securely and will be very difficult to move along the wires. The attachment is also very secure. It will be readily understood, however, that these anglestrips can be attached similar to the post B, but under those circumstances th ey would be more easy to move along the wire and would not make so rigid a fence.

The improved compensating device for the expansion and contraction of the longitudinal wires due to heat and cold can be made in the form shown in Fig. 10 in which the bar F has its ends offset and the eyebolts are inserted through the offset portion and the springs s are put on the eyebolts between the end of the bolt and the offset portion. This can be used conveniently where a fence is built to great lengths, saving the necessity of constructing the end posts separately to secure the result of providing for the expansion and contraction of the longitudinal wires due to heat and cold.

Having thus described our improved fence, we desire to say that it can be considerably varied in the details of construction without departing from our invention. Our improved end posts can be used with any kind of intermediate post4 and with any kind of strands. Our intermediate posts can be used with any other kind of end posts and our improved cross-strands I can be used on any kind of wire fences and it is not material to our invention whether the longitudinal wires c e are barbed or plain.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a metal fence, the combination of the angle-iron end posts, A, A', one limb of said angle-iron lying in the plane of the fence and the other at right angles thereto; angle-iron braces, C, bolted to the part of said post which is at right angles to said fence a little distance from the limb of the angleiron lying in the direction of the fence; a rod-bolt, D, connecting the lower end of said braces and the lower part of the end post together; and blocks, E, on which said braces rest; intermediate angleiron fence-posts, B, placed with the angle of the iron in the plane of the fence and limbs standing at oblique angles thereto; longitudinal wires, c, c, e, and wire staple-fastenings, u, looped over said longitudinal wires, e, and inserted in the apertures in the angle-iron posts, B, the ends of said staples being eX- panded to retain them in place 5 the angle-iron cross-stays, I, I; staples, f, attaching said IOO IIO

` bent vinto the plane of the portion'of the post iron lying in the plane of the fence and the other at right angles thereto; angle -iron braces, C, the limbs of which angle-iron are divided at the upper end; a bolt, z, attaching one of said limbs to the part of said post at right angles to the fence; a bolt, attaching the other limb of said brace to the limb of the angle-iron post lying in the plane of the fence;

a Washer, m, on said bolt, w, between said brace and post to leave a free space for the longitudinal wires of the fence; a bolt, D, connecting the lower end of said brace to the bottom of said post; and a block, E, on which the lower end of said brace rests, coacting together as specified.

3. In a metal fence, the combination of an angle-iron end post, one limb of said angleiron lying in the plane of the fence and the other being at right angles thereto; an angleiron brace, the limbs of which angle-iron are divided at their upper end, one limb being at right angles to the fence, the said brace being a little distance separated from the limb lying in the direction of the fence to afford a central space for the fence-wires suitable means of uniting said brace and post at the upper end; a bolt passing' through the lower end of said brace and through said post 5 and a block under the end of said brace, for the purpose specified.

4. In a metal fence, the combination of the angle-iron end post, A, one limb of said angie-iron lying in the plane of the fence and the other at right angles thereto; an angleiron brace, C, thelimbs of which angle-iron are divided at the upper end; a bolt, z, attaching one of said limbs to the portion of the post at right angles to said fence; a bolt, x, attaching the other limb of said brace to the limb of the angle-iron post lying in the plane of the fence; a washer, m, on said bolt, 0c, between said brace and post; a bolt,lD, connecting the lower end of said brace to the bottom of said post; a block, E, on which the lower end of said brace rests; longitudinal wires of the fence passing between said brace and the limb of the angle-iron of the post and attached to the post through suitable apertures in the rightangle limb thereof, as specified.

5. A fence having a post formed of angular metal, a brace for said post, the brace lying at the inner side of one member of the post, a bolt connecting the brace and post, and a washer interposed between the brace and post, the washer being capable of holding the V brace out of position which will interfere with the wiresof the fence.

In witness whereof We have hereunto set our hands and seals in the presence cf two witnesses.

HENRY J. WOLCOT'I.

[L si FREDERICK llI. BEAMAN. [Ls] Witnesses:

M. D. WEEKS, O.- L. DAVIS. 

